Game 1 l Game 2 l Updated stats
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Visiting Nazareth fell to St. John Fisher 5-0 in game one and 11-1 in game two in an Empire 8 softball doubleheader on Friday afternoon. In each game, the Cardinals extended their lead in the fifth and sixth innings to secure the victory. Senior Kelly Kocher highlighted the Golden Flyers' game one performances with six strikeouts.

Following the losses, Nazareth drops to 2-18 overall and 0-4 in Empire 8 games. Fisher improves to 18-4 overall and 2-0 in conference contests.

In the first game, Fisher opened the scoring in the bottom of the fifth inning. Megan Zoerb reached on an error by sophomore Sarah Cipperly to open the inning. Kate Disbrow came into the contest to run for Zoerb and advanced to second after Kelly Jones was hit by a pitch. Jennifer Vanek advanced both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Following Kocher's strikeout of Jennifer Martin, Kayla Goodberlet hit a two-out, two-run single to give the Cardinals the lead.
 
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Kaylee Tallman hit a one-out, three-run homerun to extend Fisher's lead. It was Tallman's first homerun of the season, however, Tallman entered the contest with a .625 batting average in the six games in which she played. Leanne Merchant opened the inning with a walk and moved to second following a single by Sarah Fordyce. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Carissa Carlson.
 
Nazareth threatened in the first inning when sophomore Kailey Ritch led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by classmate Liz Toner. The Cardinals got out of the inning by forcing back-to-back groundouts to leave Ritch in scoring position. Ritch's second single came in the top of the sixth, but Danielle Leone struck out the next two batters to prevent Ritch from moving into scoring position.
 
In the bottom of the first inning, Fisher had runners reach second and third base with one out, but were unable to push anyone across the plate. Vanek started the inning with a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice. Goodberlet singled and advanced Vanek to third. With Vanek on third, Goodberlet then advanced to second with the pitch. Kocher got out of the inning with a strikeout and a flyout.
 
In the bottom of the second, Kocher struck out all three Cardinals to prevent any batter from reaching base. Kocher finished with six strikeouts and allowed three earned runs. Kocher falls to 2-7 overall with Friday's loss. Kocher entered the game with an earned run average of 4.70.
 
Senior Casey Mathers led off the top of the seventh inning with a single and advanced to second on a groundout by freshman Sophia Rhoades. Fisher, however, secured the victory by forcing sophomore Shauna Bardanis into a groundout.
 
Cipperly had a one-out single in the fourth inning but was knocked off base on a fielder's choice. Following Cipperly's single, the Golden Flyers were unable to threaten the Cardinals in the inning. 
 
Leone finished with six strikeouts in her seven-inning shutout. Leone entered the game with an earned run average of just 1.27. Leone improved to 10-1 on the season with the victory.

In game two, the Golden Flyers opened the game with a run in the top of the first inning. Ritch opened the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Toner. After moving to third on a groundout by Cipperly, Ritch scored on a two-out single by Mathers.

Nazareth maintained its 1-0 edge until the fourth inning when Leanne Merchant connected on a two-run homerun. Goodberlet opened the inning with a single berfore Merchant's ninth homerun of the season.

The Cardinals built an overwhelming lead with nine runs between the fifth and sixth innings to secure the victory. Following singles by Vanek and Jones, Goodberlet reached on a single to load the bases with one out in the fifth inning. Similar to the fourth inning, Merchant came through for Fisher again as she had a two-run single to score Vanek and Jones. Carlson followed with a single to score Goodberlet, and Merchant crossed the plate on a single by Tallman. Nazareth recorded the final two outs without allowing any further damage in the frame.

In the sixth inning, the Golden Flyers' tallied the first two outs before allowing the next five players to score. Vanek started the scoring run with a triple to center field, and she scored after Jones reached on an error by Nazareth. After Goodberlet advanced Jones to second with a single, Jones scored on a double by Merchant, who finished with three hits, three runs, and five RBIs. Carlson closed the game with a three-run homerun to give the Cardinals the 10-run victory. It was Carlson's third homer of the season.

After the first inning, Nazareth's best opportunity to score came in the fourth inning. Mathers reached base on a one-out single and moved to second after senior Brittany Patenaude drew a walk. Fisher's defense sidestepped any damage by collecting consecutive outs on a foul out and a ground out.

Mathers finished with three strikeouts and dropped to 1-8 with the loss. Sarah Stefanon allowed the Golden Flyers just four hits and collected six strikeouts. Stefanson is now 8-3 this season. Stefanson entered the game with an ERA of 1.65.

The Golden Flyers are in action again on Wednesday. Nazareth travels to Geneseo for a non-conference doubleheader.